


Trust Trails

by Shell_Writes



Series: Old Unfinished Worlds [1]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, Don't Examine This Too Closely, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Mentions of Drake, homophobic slurs from seth, mentions of Nathan - Freeform, neil is a familiar, the foxes are a coven, witches & familiars AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-10-03 20:52:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17291210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shell_Writes/pseuds/Shell_Writes
Summary: Witch! Andrew familiar! Neil AU where the foxes go to a familiar safe house to bond with familiars. Neil is a strong familiar known only as "the Fiery Cat". You can guess where this is going, right?





	Trust Trails

**Author's Note:**

> sigh.. i know it's a mess and i do not wanna edit this after a year of it sitting on my drafts  
> (FYI: — magic colors ;  
> White = pure magic, only for familiars  
> Yellow = earth/metals/rocks  
> Red = fire/heat/lava  
> Blue =  water/ice/air  
> Green = plants/flowers/trees  
> Gray = almost corrupted witched & familiars  
> Black = corrupted witches & familiars)

=^._.^=  =^._.^=

 

"OK, listen up, everyone," Wymack tried to gain his coven's attention but failed miserably.

Seth and Nicky were fighting as always. Aaron and Allison were also arguing, as always, while Matt tried to bring peace. Kevin was crossing his hands and pouting—still sulking—about something Dan said to him a few hours ago. Andrew was yawning. 

Dan and Renee were the only ones giving their full attention to Wymack.

"Excuse my French, coach," Dan said to him respectfully, then turned to the rest of the coven, "SHUT THE FUCK UP, EVERYONE! DAD IS TRYING TO SAY SOMETHING!"

Wymack sighed but was thankful that she did get the others under control. Everyone in the room had their eyes on Wymack and an amused Abby on his side. 

"Thanks Dan," Wymack continued, "as you all know, we cannot enter the Covens Games—in particular Exy—without at least one familiar—" 

"—isn't Abby enough?" frowned Matt.

"Yes, I am a familiar, but I'm not playing with the team. I'm only the healing familiar," Abby answered, still smiling.

"As I was saying," Wymack went on, "I contacted an old friend that owns a familiar safe house, and she kindly allowed us to go and possibly bond with a familiar."

"So… it's like a familiar shop?" asked Allison.

Wymack glared. "No. the familiars are not pets, we're not  _buying_  a familiar! Abby, explain please." 

Abby laughed at her witch's outburst. He always treated familiars the right way, that was the reason she bonded with him all those years ago.

"As you all know, a familiar is a demon with great powers that can bond with witches to help them gain more understanding and power," Abby explained. “You can't force a bond with a familiar, more often than not, you have to earn the familiar's trust first for them to even show you their human form." 

"Like the Fiery Cat!" Nicky said enthusiastically. 

"Just like the Fiery Cat," nodded Abby. 

"The fuck is a fiery cat?" Seth asked. 

Nicky groaned. "Shut up Seth." 

"You fucking shut-"

"-That's enough!" Dan glared at the two boys, "and to answer your question, Seth, the Fiery Cat is a famous powerful familiar that refused to show his human form to anyone, including Riko Moriyama." 

Kevin shivered at the mention of his ex-partner and adopted brother. 

The whole Fox Coven looked at Kevin with the exception of Andrew who was back to yawning, like this was the most boring thing he had ever witnessed, but Renee, the only fox that knew him will enough, knew he was listening to every word they said. 

"What?" asked Kevin. 

"Did you really meet the Fiery Cat?" asked Aaron, amazed. Even _he_ knew how powerful the familiar was. He was the only one left of his kind, if he even had a kind. He was that rare.

"Was he cute?" asked Nicky.

Kevin looked away, "yes, and I don't know, Nicky! I haven't seen him as a human."

"What did Riko do when the Fiery Cat rejected him?" asked Matt.

Andrew was now giving Kevin his attention, more interested on Kevin's history with the Moriyamas than anything else.

"What do you think he did?" Kevin sneered. “He was obviously pissed. He even tried to kill the Fiery Cat."

There was a gasp from the room. Abby shuddered at the thought of a witch killing their potential familiar. Unfortunately, it wasn't unheard of. A corrupt witch might kill their familiar to gain their powers.

No wonder the poor familiar had trust issues. 

Andrew looked like he had the same thought, but remained silent, looking and calculating.

"Man, Riko's such an asshole!"

"Ya think?"

"While we're on the subject of the Fiery Cat," Wymack said before another fight broke, "he lives in my friend's safe house, too."

The group stared wide eyed. Kevin and Aaron more intrigued than the rest. Andrew looked bored again, he wasn't interested in the 'unimaginable' power a familiar would bring, all that mattered was protecting his own, and he could do that without a familiars help. 

"Really?" 

"Your friend is Betsy Dobson?" asked Allison, she knew that the Fiery Cat was under the protection of a powerful witch called Betsy Dobson. 

Andrew, like everyone, had heard of Dr. Dobson, she was a therapist witch. She used herbs and magic to help her patients. Andrew didn’t trust therapists, and he wondered why a scaredy cat (literally) would be in her safe house. 

"Yes, she's a good friend of ours," answered Wymack with Abby nodding beside him. 

"Isn't it impossible to bond with the Fiery Cat?" Dan asked skeptically. 

"Yeah, can't we just bond with another familiar like Abby? A healing Dove?"

"How hard can it be to put a collar on a fucking cat?" asked Seth.

Abby shook her head. "We're not putting a collar on anyone! You're just gonna present yourselves to them, and they'll choose." 

"But, if one of us can actually bond with the Fiery Cat," said Nicky excitedly, "we'll definitely have a chance at the Covens Games!" 

"Don't get too excited, a familiar wouldn't want to bond to a fucking fag." Seth smirked. 

"Unlike you, asshole, familiars aren't bigoted homophobic jerks!" Nicky fired back. 

"We're leaving in two hours, be ready or I'm leaving without you!" Wymack shouted over the voices and left to go to his office, followed by Abby.

 

=^._.^=

 

 

Andrew was sitting at the back of the bus alone, with Kevin in front of him and Aaron and Nicky on the other side.

He didn’t really care much about familiars, maybe because he knew he’ll never get one, why would he? he didn’t deserve a bond that strong with a powerful being. 

He was only here to keep an eye on Kevin and his family.

From the look of it, the rest of the foxes didn’t share his opinion. They were far too excited for Andrew. Even Kevin was determined to bond with the Fiery Cat, to meet him again after all those years. Pathetic.

Andrew looked to his left, Aaron was in the same state but was trying to hide it as Nicky was chatting about something unimportant.

Andrew knew Aaron wanted a familiar since he met his long lost twin. Not just Aaron, a familiar was a companion every young witch wanted to have.

Andrew looked out the window when he sensed Renee coming to sit next to him.

“Hello,” she greeted softly.

Andrew just looked at her without saying anything.

“Do you think you’ll find a familiar?”

“I don’t want a familiar,” said Andrew.

Renee looked like she didn’t believe him, but didn’t push it, “Everyone is so excited to meet the Fiery Cat. Do you think one of us will actually bond with him?”

Andrew swept his gaze across the bus, looking at everyone. They were too... greedy for the power that came with having a familiar, or just wanted to feel superior to everyone, in Gordon’s case.

The only one who actually had a chance was Renee. Sweet Renee who only wanted world peace or some other bullshit.

“Who knows,” Andrew answered, nonchalantly.

“I think you’ll be thoroughly surprised about the good that’s inside the foxes, and what’ll happen at the safe house.” She smiled. 

Andrew rolled his eyes. “Keep your optimism to yourself, this is the real world.” 

Renee hummed, “I guess we’ll have to wait and see.” 

Andrew didn’t actually know if Renee had a vision about what’ll happen or if she was just being her optimistic self. 

The bus stopped, and everyone stopped talking and looked out the windows. It looked like they were in the middle of nowhere, with mountains all around them. 

“That’s where our bus journey ends,” Abby explained as she walked out of the bus, followed by the rest of the coven. 

“Only familiars can do the teleportation spell to the Green Tara safe house, for protection reasons,” explained Wymack as the coven went inside a huge dark cave. 

"Help me light the cave,” Abby asked Wilds. 

The two woman proceeded to do a fire spell and lit up the cave. Abby’s fire was white, normal for familiars, Wilds' was a normal red. 

Abby turned to look at them. “We need to be in a circle, and holding hands.

Andrew stiffened at the thought of people touching him, but kept an emotionless face. 

Abby held Wymack’s hand in her right and Wilds' in her left, the rest of the coven followed her lead.

Andrew stood between Aaron and Kevin and held their hands grudgingly.

“OK, everyone.” Abby looked at them seriously. “This is very important; you need to relax and close your eyes. You need to clear your conscious and have _good intentions_ , or you won’t make it to the safe house.” 

“What does that supposed to mean?” asked Gordon.

“It means your ass will be dead by the time we reach the safe house, bitch,” Nicky said, laughing. 

Abby glared halfheartedly. “No, it means that you’ll stay here while the rest will enter.” 

Everyone took a deep breath, and stayed silent as Abby started doing the complicated spell. 

Andrew started feeling a tingling sensation, starting from his toes and going up. He was sure that he’ll get thrown out of the circle because of what Abby said earlier.

“Do you guys feel that?” asked Nicky.

Andrew could feel both Kevin and Aaron hold his hands tightly as Boyd replied with a ‘yes.’

“I don’t feel anything,” groaned Gordon. 

Abby shushed them. “Give it time.”

Suddenly, Andrew felt a warmth engulfing his body, like he was floating in the sky. Kevin’s and Aaron’s hands holding his tightly was all the conformation he needed to know that they were experiencing the same thing.

He kept his eyes shut tightly and ignored his accelerating heartbeats.

Not too long after, his feet hit a solid ground, and he opened his eyes slowly.

They appeared to be in an enormous, lit lobby of some sorts. It had high ceilings and hanging chandeliers. 

Judging by the look of everything around them, they seemed to be in the entrance of the safe house. 

“We’re here.”

“Wait, where’s Seth?” asked Reynolds. 

“It looks like he’s back at the cave.” Abby sighed.

Andrew ignored the rest of their conversation and walked further into the huge room. It looked fancy like a ballroom, not what he expected a safe house would look like.

As Andrew was walking around, something gigantic came walking through the doors.

It was a fucking _Woolly Mammoth_.

Andrew’s eyes widened. _What the fuck_ , is all he could think of as he slowly backed to the rest of his coven, preparing to use his magic if the freaking (extinct) creature attacked.

His coven seemed just as freaked out, if not more so. Nicky was practically screaming about being too cute and young to die. 

“Is that a fucking Mammoth?!” Aaron shouted. 

The animal continued walking slowly towards them, not making any sudden move, then stopping in front of them. 

Abby walked up to the Mammoth, smiling, and raised a hand to pet its trunk. Andrew heard Boyd whisper a very confused, ‘what the fuck is happening?’

Abby laughed as the Woolly Mammoth lifted her up with its trunk. “Don’t be afraid,” she said to the foxes, “this is May, one of Betsy’s familiars!”

The Mammoth put her down, and a light engulfed its huge frame, transforming into a woman in her thirties, with long brown hair. She then laughed. “You should’ve seen your faces! it was priceless!”

Andrew glared but he was relieved that he didn’t have to fight a fucking Mammoth.

Allison sighed. “Seth is not gonna fucking believe this!”

The rest of the foxes had their jaws wide open.

“I was waiting for you kids to show up,” May said to the foxes after she hugged Wymack.

“I have so many questions,” said Nicky with Aaron nodding beside him.

“Questions can wait for later, now let’s go meet my witch, Betsy!” the familiar walked through the doors she came from, followed by Abby and Wymack.

The rest followed, still in shock.

The other room was like a reception area, if a reception desk was six foot tall and was manned by a giraffe

Andrew refused to be surprised, after seeing a Mammoth, nothing will ever beat that.

May saluted the giraffe, and continued walking out of the room, with the foxes lagging behind to look at the giraffe.

Most the foxes either haven’t seen familiars other than Abby (as a dove) or haven’t seen familiars this big.

Finally, they arrived at Dr. Dobson’s office, and May let them in. 

The office was full of animal glass figurines. It was clean, almost unnaturally so, and the woman sitting behind the desk was mixing a green potion. 

“Betsy!” Abby went to the witch and hugged her.

“Abby, David!” Betsy laughed. “It’s good to see the two of you!”

“It’s been too long."  Wymack smiled.

Andrew was already bored with their reunion and turned to examine the office.

He saw a bunch of different animals, some even mythical, until he noticed a woolly mammoth and a giraffe, the same they saw minutes ago.

Interesting.

Maybe these figurines were actually the familiars living in this safe house.

He continued looking and noticed another thing, a pattern between every animal, they were _precisely_ distanced. The old leather bound books also looked precise and clean.

It almost looked like the doctor had OCD.

“Aren’t you the perceptive type,” a soft voice said behind him.

Andrew jerked back and looked at the person who snuck up on him, it was the familiar, May.

She raised her hands, surrendering. “Sorry I frightened you. Again.”

Andrew glared at her. “How did you know what I was thinking?”

Andrew never heard of a magic where you could hear someone’s thoughts. And he didn’t like someone in his head.

“Relax, it comes with the whole bonded familiar shebang,” she explained. “You know, we gotta know who’s talking/thinking about our witch in a bad way so we could protect them.” 

Andrew didn’t know that.

“So, do you think you’ll bond with a familiar today?” she asked looking at the rest of foxes as they were chatting excitedly with Dobson. 

“I don’t want a familiar,” Andrew repeated for the second time today. Why do people keep asking him that? And why does he bother answering?   

The familiar raised her eyebrow. “You don’t believe that.” 

Andrew wondered if she was inside his head right now. He glared at her, staying silent. 

She smiled again, looking ahead. “I see our paths crossing a lot in the future, and you’re not alone then, and looking more relaxed. I also see you calling my witch a certain kind of flying insect.”

May walked to her witch before Andrew could process what she’d said, and before he could ask her what she meant. 

Can familiars see the future too? what did she even mean? 

“By popular demands,” Dr. Dobson said loudly to everyone. “I will take you to the Fiery Cat’s suite, but I cannot guarantee that any of you will even see him.” 

Nicky whooped. Kevin was looking determined. The rest were in various states of excitement. 

“Do not try anything.” May looked at every one of them sternly. "Or you'll have a bunch of _very_ _Large_ familiars very mad at you." 

“I'm sure they won’t do anything to hurt him,” the doctor assured her familiar. Then turned to the rest of them, “I will take you to him, now. Follow me.”

Dobson walked out of the office, the foxes trailing behind her. Nicky and Boyd were chatting excitedly, along with Wilds. Kevin was in front of them, taking long confidant strides.

The doctor stopped in front of a big door. “Behind this door, you may go through a series of tests to determine your worth, you will not be able to lie or cheat. Good luck.” 

Dobson used her blue magic to unlock the door. A chill went through Andrew from the sudden cold.

The door opened and the foxes stepped inside, leaving Wymack, Abby, and Dobson behind.

“What the heck?” Reynolds frowned at the sight that greeted them. 

In front of them was a huge stone maze with multiple openings. It looked like they entered a whole new universe, and the lights were different and faint.

“I think we have to go our own ways,” Wilds said, letting go of her boyfriend’s hand. 

The coven separated, each on their own, except for Andrew who kept following Kevin.

It took Andrew five minutes to figure out that Kevin was walking in circles, obviously the idiot didn’t even notice. Andrew decided to keep his mouth shut, even though he was bored out of his mind.

Looking around the stone walls of the maze, some had flowers and other plants growing through the cracks. Andrew wondered when was the last time someone was here, and what happened.

Andrew’s mind took him to the damn cat familiar everyone was so obsessed with, as mysterious as he was, Andrew would be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t intrigued. 

Andrew was too lost in his thoughts that he almost hit a wall. They had hit another dead end.

Andrew looked behind him but didn’t see Kevin. Fuck. 

Andrew ran back through the walls of the maze, his eidetic memory gave him perfect recollection, but it seemed like the walls kept changing, and he was getting himself more lost. 

He started yelling Kevin’s name but to no avail. 

Fuck.

Andrew stumbled back to a wall and sighed. He wondered what Aaron and the others were up to.

In the corner of his eye, Andrew caught a flash of something moving. 

Immediately, he turned around, his hands going to his gray-magic knives, but there was nothing in front of him. “Kevin?”

Dead silence.

Andrew took a deep breath and walked slowly to the place where he saw the movement. As he drew near, another flash of movement caught his attention to the right.

He cursed and walked to it again. Why was he following this thing and not finding Kevin? he didn’t know but maybe, he’ll find Kevin at the end of this shit maze.

Andrew turned another corner when he saw a flash to his left, then right. He had a feeling that he was being baited to go somewhere, and to his surprise, he couldn’t stop following—now running—after the flash of movement.

He finally reached an opening in the maze, and walked through it with his enchanted knives ready in his hands.

The new room was big, with high ceilings, similar to the lobby of the safe house, and it wasn’t empty.

At the center of the room was a king size bed, with plain blue sheets. Laying on the bed was a very small child with curly auburn hair that fell on his eyes and freckles, he was staring at Andrew with huge blue eyes that were completely devoid of any emotion.

Andrew involuntarily shuddered at the empty stare and looked around the room. The walls were suddenly stacked with moving framed pictures.

Some were of the same child being abused by who Andrew assumed was his father, and some evil looking woman (his mother?). Others were of the child, slightly older, crying as he watched a car burning with black flames. Some were of a blond woman smiling down at the kid.

They started to melt off the walls. Andrew looked back at the child but found _himself_ as a kid sitting on a smaller bed next to the auburn boy. Both of the children watched Andrew, waiting for something.

What the fuck? was this one of those tests that Dr. Dobson told them about?

“Are you hurt?” asked Andrew before he could stop himself.

Both boys nodded.

Suddenly, the auburn boy’s white clothes began to stain with red, but he remained frozen. Andrew walked to him and stood a couple of feet away.

“Who hurt you?” asked Andrew, looking between the two boys. He already knew the answer kid-him would say, if this was really him.

“Daddy and his friends,” the auburn haired boy replied, his voice cracking from screams. Andrew clenched his hands.

“My foster brother hurt me,” Kid-Andrew replied, and Adult-Andrew bit his lips. So this was really him. But how?

“Daddy is coming, will you help me?” the auburn haired boy murmured.

“My foster brother is coming, will you help me?” Kid-Andrew murmured.

The two beds started moving away from each other, taking the children to the far corners of the room. Two doors—one in each side of the room—opened and two tall and menacing figures stepped in from each one.

The one who stepped at the auburn boy’s side, was the same man from the moving pictures— _the father_. In his hand was a bloody cleaver.

The one from Kid-Andrew’s side was a far too familiar man. _Drake_ stepped into the room.

The two men loomed over the two children who just shook with fear.

Why was he here? Was he supposed to _watch_?

Andrew couldn’t take it as the two boys started screaming, calling for Andrew to come help them.

Goddammit. He’ll have to choose, won’t he?

Fuck. _Fuck_.

Andrew knows how this ends for him, well for Kid-Andrew technically. But will he really ignore that bastard who hurt him to save this random kid?

Andrew looked at the scene in front of him.

The auburn boy was bleeding and crying for Andrew but otherwise didn’t fight his father, while Kid-Andrew was scratching and biting Drake, but to no avail.

He could save the both of them.

Andrew quickly ran to the king size bed where the father was stabbing his small son, and pierced his enchanted knife through his back, until the monster fell on the bed lifelessly.

When Andrew turned to run at the other side, he was surprised to find nothing was there.

No Kid-Andrew. No bed. _No Drake_.

Nothing.

Andrew found that the auburn haired boy and his father have disappeared as well.

It was just him, and his clean-from-blood knife.

Was it just in his head?

Andrew walked to the next door, determined to find the exit of this hell of a place.

The next room was smaller than the previous one, and had a homey feel, like the first one, he wasn’t alone either.

There was a large cheetah, his fur was almost maroon with black rosettes scattered around, his long tail was swishing occasionally. He was standing on a table, eyes fixed on Andrew, like he was ready to jump and strike if Andrew made a wrong move.

Fuck.

Why did the fates love to fuck with him? Why did they make him meet the damn familiar when he so explicitly said he didn't want one?

" _Don’t think too much, it might sprain your brain_ ," a voice said in his head. Andrew wasn't surprised, he already knew how familiars could communicate with potential witches. _Potential witch_.

Andrew glared at the rude cheetah.

"Why?" Is all Andrew asked as he stared at the _cat_ —a very misleading name. Andrew thought it was a fucking house cat, not a fucking cheetah. He didn't understand why him, and not anyone else, like Renee, or even Wilds and Boyd.

The cheetah's form relaxed a bit, front paws bent slightly. " _I can feel the right witch_."

"That can't be right. What about Renee?"

The cheetah jumped off the table and walked to a plush carpet, casually running his paws through it. " _I sensed all of them already, and she was… dangerous_."

Andrew glared, ignoring how the cheetah figured out Renee faster than any of the foxes (more like _before_ them). "And I'm _not_?"

If the cheetah was all powerful that he could sense Renee, shouldn't he be smart enough to realize that Andrew was almost as dangerous? That his magic was gray, almost black, almost _corrupt_.

" _You wouldn't hurt me_ ," the familiar said simply.

"What makes you so sure?" Andrew asked, his gray blades still in his hands, he clenched them.

The cheetah looked at the knives, then up to Andrew's eyes. Andrew realized how familiarly _blue_ the cheetah's eyes were.

" _You really can't change my mind_." The voice echoed in his head.

Andrew glared. "Are you always this stupid or is today a special occasion?"

 

=^._.^=

 

The foxes, minus Matt and Andrew, were gathered in the waiting room outside the Fiery  Cat's suite, visibly disappointed.

Matt walked out of the suite and into the waiting room.

Dan who was sitting on the couch asked, "no luck, huh?"

Matt sighed loudly and sat down next to his girlfriend. "No, unfortunately. But the power on that familiar is truly amazing!"

The rest of the foxes looked at him, frowns on their faces.

"Power?" Kevin asked slowly, eyebrow slightly twitching.

"Yeah," Matt answered, looking at the rest of the foxes. "What?"

"I didn't feel anything," Allison said.

"Me neither," Renee said.

The rest of the foxes shook their heads as Matt looked at them. When he got to Kevin, the other witch refused to look at him.

"Kevin?" Dan asked.

Kevin groaned loudly. "No! I didn't feel anything either!"

"Okay, so no one could win the Fiery Cat over. Just what I've expected," Allison said, rolling her eyes.

"But Matt seemed to be getting close enough to the familiar to feel his power. That's a good sign," Dan said, looking proud of her boyfriend.

"And where is Andrew?" Nicky asked, looking around.

"Maybe he already got out before us?" Matt said.

"No. Andrew is still in the maze," May said, coming out of nowhere.

After the rest recovered from the scare, Aaron asked, "he's still lost in there?"

May laughed. "Oh, don't worry, he's anything but lost! In the meantime, how about the rest of you come with me to see other familiars?"

The foxes agreed and followed the familiar away from the suite. Aaron was the only one that looked back.

 

=^._.^=

 

"What's your name?" Andrew asked the cheetah as he walked through the room. The cheetah has run off somewhere but Andrew could still feel his presence in his mind.

" _Why don't you come and find me first, then I'll decide if you can have my name_."

Andrew sighed. He figured there was more to it than just the hell that was the last room, and he knew how familiars had multiple names, only their real name had the power to bind them to a witch. Familiars have developed this for protection.

"Fine," he said and walked to where he saw the cheetah run a few minutes ago.

When he entered through the door, to a place that looked like a house of sorts, he could feel multiple energies pulling him to different directions. There were so many energies that it almost overwhelmed Andrew, his gray magic sparked and his body hair stood.

" _Take a deep breath_ ," the cheetah said, " _and come to me_."

Andrew glared at nothing but did as he was told. He took a deep breath, getting his magic under control, then opened his eyes.

He could see and feel clearer now.

The energies, that he now identified as traces of magic, were pure white mingled with a little red, and felt like the red cheetah. Some magic trails were stronger than others.

"Do you have something for dramatic mazes or what?" Andrew asked as he walked to a magic trail that felt the strongest.

" _They're just the easiest to create, shorty_."

"Fuck right off."

Andrew walked up the stairs. And wondered how big was this place.

Five minutes of walking had Andrew wondering why he was still trying to find the familiar. He was rude, and did Andrew _really_ want to get involved with people like him?

Finally he found a room that just radiates familiar's magic, but of course it was not as easy as that. The door had no knobs.

Andrew waited for the cheetah to give him instructions but everything was too silent in his head.

He ran his hand over the white wood, feeling a spark. He looked up at the door.

He breathed in and let out a small spark of his own magic. The door buzzed but didn't budge. Andrew increased the power of his magic current, and he could feel the door shaking.

So this was the key?

Andrew felt the magic through his body but he directed to his hands, letting it go straight to the door. Andrew looked at his gray sparks as they worked to open the door, finally succeeding.

He walked in the room, finding the same king sized bed as before which made Andrew hyper vigilant, but on top of the bed there wasn't a small frightened child, there was a grown version of the boy. He was a little taller than Andrew and was lithe under the baggy clothes. On his left check, just underneath his eye, there was a burn scar, and his arms had some scars too.

The familiar in his human form kept a wary eye on Andrew, trying to read his expression but Andrew's face was as blank as always. The familiar crossed his arms.

"You had to right to call _me_ short," Andrew finally said, raising an eyebrow.

The familiar huffed and puffed his checks. "I'm clearly _taller_ than _you_."

"That isn't saying much." Andrew looked around the room. It seemed to be the real bedroom, though it didn't have a lot of things, just a bed, a closet, and a desk with drawings hanged around it.

When Andrew looked back to the familiar to ask him about the drawings, he found him biting his lower lip and looking conflicted.

Andrew gave him a couple of minutes then spoke. "My name is Andrew Minyard."

The familiar hummed. "Yeah… I'm **_Abram_**."

Andrew could feel a shiver go up his spine, the magic contained in that single word was mesmerizing. Andrew nodded.

"You can just call me Neil in front of people," Neil— ** _Abram_** , Andrew shivered—said. Andrew decided to keep on call him Neil, just to be safe.

Andrew nodded again, and walked to the drawings.

There were drawings of a lot of animals that Andrew assumed were familiars (or Neil just liked to draw normal animals), but there were two consistent drawings; a couple of Dr. Betsey Dobson and several of a single crow. Andrew stared at a charcoal drawing. He could sense that it was full of feelings.

"He's my friend," Neil explained hurriedly.

Andrew sensed a sore subject so he avoided it for now. "A cheetah that could draw. What a world."

 

=^._.^=

 

The foxes stood in the lobby with both coach and Abby, still mostly disappointed and still missing Andrew. Most of them were without familiars but Nicky had managed to bond with a cool German shepherd and Aaron bonded with a cute red panda.

Dr. Dobson was telling them to not be disappointed and that they'll meet their familiars when the fates were aligned.

"And you're all welcome in the safe house whenever you want!" She said. "If you need anything, or just want someone to talk to, you can call me whenever you feel like it." she handed them all her cards.

"Where's Andrew?" Aaron asked, the red panda, who they now knew simply as Katelyn, was perched on Aaron's shoulder.

"Yeah, he's been missing for almost five hours!" Nicky exclaimed, kneeling beside his German shepherd and petting it furiously.

May came running to the lobby, she had a huge grin on her face and came to stand next to Dr. Dobson. "Good news, everyone!"

"What?"

May hummed. "I'll let Andrew tell it himself!"

"Andrew?" before Renee could continue talking, Andrew himself walked into the lobby. But not alone.

Behind Andrew was a dark red cheetah, it trailed behind the witch, keeping its sharp eyes on the group.

"Wait, what?!" Nicky screamed. All the foxes were staring wide eyed at the two that just walked in while Andrew just acted like he wasn't followed by a fucking wild big cat.

"It's.. the Fiery Cat," Matt was the one to say. Dan wondered if he sensed the power that was coming from the familiar now. Matt continued, "you're bonded to it."

"Him," Andrew said casually, going to stand next to Kevin who looked at the Fiery Cat with mixed emotions—mostly jealousy and familiarity.

"That's great!" Dr. Dobson said, successfully breaking the awkward silence. She approached Andrew and the Fiery Cat. "Here, Andrew. This is my card, I gave the rest of your coven. You can call me about anything, including stuff concerning Neil, anytime!"

Andrew looked at the card without making any move to take it, he then looked down at the Fiery Cat (Neil?) with a raised eyebrow, the cheetah was looking up at Andrew. Andrew huffed, taking the card. "Whatever."

_Dan wondered what they were saying inside their heads._

Dr. Dobson smiled kindly at Andrew then down at his familiar who was looking up at her without the hostility that was directed on the foxes.

"Well, Neil, we're gonna miss you here but it's great that you found Andrew!"

May continued, "don't forget to visit us , kid!"

The Fiery Cat—Neil, Dan figured—walked to the two, softly head-butting them then returned to Andrew's side.

As Dr. Dobson and her familiar left the lobby, the foxes stayed silent. Allison was the first to talk.

"Ugh," she groaned, "I cannot believe that out of everyone in our coven, the people who bonded with familiars today are three of the monsters."

Matt chuckled. "And only the cousins, too! There has got to be something in their blood."

"Okay everyone," Abby said, a relaxed smile on her face, holding Coach's hand, and reaching for Dan's. "How about we return back home first before we start arguing with each other, huh?"

 

=^._.^=  =^._.^=

 

 

 


End file.
